Peace and quiet in Montreux?
 

Hi all,
I've gotten so much good advice over the years and here I am again. My husband and I are thinking about a trip to the Swiss Riviera in either late May/early June '08 or the first 2 weeks of September. I'm having trouble figuring out where to stay. We want to see the sights in Montreux, Vevey and the Rochers-de-Naye summit as well as a day trip to Gruyeres.
I would really like to stay out of the city and be someplace quiet where we can sit on our balcony in the evenings and relax with beautiful nature around us. To give you an idea of what we're looking for, we've been to Switzerland twice before and my favorite place so far was Lauterbrunnen. It was easy to get around the area on the trains but the village was very peaceful at night with loads of natural splendor. Also, I don't want to break the bank as this part of the trip will be the second half. The first half will be 5 nights in Venice and 2 nights in Verona, Italy.
We top out at around $200 a night. Any thoughts on villages and/or hotels? Also, I'd prefer a non-smoking room which I know is hard to find sometimes.

The trip up to Rochers de Naye is truly spectacular and hopefully the views up at the top will be unobscured by clouds...but even if they are the trip up itself is worth the effort IMO.

I was going to suggest the possibility of the Hotel Victoria in Glion, above Montreux but it probably isn't within your stated budget and it is perhaps a little too isolated.

Am sure others will comment.

Are you interested, at all, in visiting Chillon?

Try this hotel in Glion
www.victoria-glion.ch

Glion is above Montreux but not so far up that the train is expensive.

Hi magicvoice,

I'll be the third to recommend (very highly) the Victoria in Glion. I've stayed there four times -- it's tops for panoramic views over the lake, for decor, and for service that is impeccable and invisible. You can get from Glion to Montreux either by train or the funicular to Territet that runs every 15 minutes.

Another possibility is the Hotel Masson in the suburb of Veytaux, www.hotelmasson.ch. It's about a block from the lake and about halfway up a hill. It's about a mile or so from the center of Montreux, but linked by city bus. I haven't stayed there, but it gets good reviews.

A problem here is that Montreux is not really surrounded by nature as Lauterbrunnen is. Montreux is a city, and in fact the whole Lake Geneva area is pretty built up, with suburb linked to the next suburb at the lake shore.

But you can stay in the smaller villages around the lake. I fell in love with little Morges, just west of Lausanne. Another possibility is the sleepy wine village of Cully.

Good luck; it's a lovely area!

s

Thanks for the info! Both of those hotels look nice.
I've got a lot of research to do on the little villages around Montreux.

When i stayed in Montreux even that town was church-mouse quiet in the evening. Grab a hotel on the lake and you'll be in heaven at sunsets

I'm not sure if you'll have a car but if you do you might like the place we stayed last September:

http://www.lapetitecabane.ch/en_ter.html

It's located in the tiny village of Clarmont which is about 10 minutes from Morges. It's non-smoking and the hosts are wonderful.

Best of luck.

Montreux is a pretty quiet place. Downright dead after dark. You can find peace and quiet pretty much anywhere.

Anyone stayed in Caux at the hotelliere de Caux?
It looks nice on their web page.
http://www.hostellerie-caux.com

I've not stayed there (since I live just in Lausanne) but have had pie at their outdoor terrace after a hike. It is lovely in Caux but super-quiet. There won't be so much to do after dinner each night but the air will be fresh and you will be relaxed.

We stayed at the Eden Hotel and loved it--right on the lake and very charming. It was several years ago, so I don't know the price now, but you can probably goggle it.

We stayed years ago at a lovely hotel right on the lake in Montreux. It was a bit expensive but we got a good price through the tourist office in town. I know it had Golf in the name, I just googled and think this is it:

http://www.golf-hotel-montreux.ch/

It had nice rooms, good breakfast, good service, a few minutes walk into town, lovely lake view from our balcony and very peaceful. Hope it's within your costs.

Kay

I'm leaning towards Glion. This area of Switzerland seems more expensive than the Berner Oberland or even Luzern!
Still, I have to see it. We've done Zurich, Appenzell, Pilatus, the B.O., Jungfrau and Luzern on previous trips and we just love this country and want to see as much of it as possible.

Well let me know when you are here because I am just down the road in Lausanne and we could have a Kir in Montreux on the lake!

Hi magicvoice,

There are some other hotels in Glion; I just haven't stayed there. Take a look at Hotel Des Alpes (www.hotel-alps.ch) and the Hotel Righi. There's not a lot of information on them on the web though.

Good luck!

s

Thanks for those last 2 links, I'll look into those some more. I've also found the website for the town of Blonay which looks so lovely with lots of cute little hotels.